Iran's deputy oil minister says demand for the country’s petrochemical products is on the rise despite Western sanctions against the Iranian energy sector.

“Since the beginning of new [Iranian calendar] year and despite escalation of [Western] sanctions, the volume of Iran's petrochemical and polymer exports has not deceased, but has also increased,” Abdolhossein Bayat told Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

EU foreign ministers approved sanctions against Iran's oil and financial sectors on January 23 with the aim of banning the import of Iranian oil and oil products by member states and transactions with the Iranian central bank.

The EU measure followed a US decision on New Year Eve to impose new sanctions on Iran telling other countries to either refrain from importing Iranian oil, or brace for Washington’s punishments.

The US-led EU sanctions entered into force respectively on June 28 and July 1, 2012.
The official, who is also managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), stated that Iran's petrochemical exports to European countries continue unaltered because “Iranian petrochemical products can be exported in the face of any sanctions.”

Bayat stated that Iran has presold some petrochemical products via long-term contracts with some foreign companies and has no concern about exporting such products.
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